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 superphoenix
  
Location: New York City
Gender: Male
There's a madness to my methods
 |  | My First: Storm Drain
< on 1/16/2012 1:51 AM >
|  | | | I found this drain back in the summer of '11 and have explored it several times each time going further than the last. The best two adjectives I could use to describe the experience are boring and scary.
The sounds from the passing cars bumping through the tunnel, the dripping water, my boots sinking into the freezing wet mud, the stale air and the pitch blackness made it a scary experience.
However, the storm drains had a predictable pattern. Walk this many yards, then come across a rust-colored ladder and maybe some bacteria. Yipee. I saw almost no variety in my hour and a half explo of this place; in fact, the most exciting part was when the route curved.
My perception from this tidally affected location is that going deep into storm drains is not worth your trouble. Few people go there, so there's nothing to see, and you always have to keep the tide in the back of your mind to make sure you don't drown from a drain flood. The mud is sticky, the water jumps into your boots and freezes your feet, and the darkness is intimidating. It's hard to photograph things when you can't even see your hand in front of your face.
Unless someone can convince me otherwise, I think that storm drains around here are pretty boring.
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AnAppleSnail
 
Location: Charlotte, NC
Gender: Male
ALL the flashlights!
| |  |  | Re: My First: Storm Drain
<Reply # 1 on 1/16/2012 1:55 AM >
| | | | Posted by superphoenix
Unless someone can convince me otherwise, I think that storm drains around here are pretty boring.
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Go to Kissena Park, but it's a sewer. NYC has some FANTASTIC buried rivers. Anyway, some storm drains are boring, but so are some buildings. The trick is to find interesting ones.
There are storm drains that give access to building basements, or go for miles like a river. There are some made of brick, stone, and once I was in one made of polished marble blocks. Some storm drains require the use of ladders or even ropes and ascent/descent gear. There are all kinds.
Research NYC history. That island had rivers once, but they are buried now.
Edit:
If darkness bothers you, I can suggest some flashlights that will do you good.
I find 2xAA to be a good compromise between convenience, power, and runtime. Those are multimode lights for more power or more range. Buy a "Precharged" NiMH pack with charger and you won't have to buy batteries. Carry the extra two in your pocket to have buckets of runtime. I keep my spares in a ziploc. Learn to change batteries in the dark.
[last edit 1/16/2012 2:01 AM by AnAppleSnail - edited 1 times]
Achievement Unlocked
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syl23
| | Re: My First: Storm Drain
<Reply # 2 on 1/16/2012 2:17 AM >
| | | | | The sounds from the passing cars bumping through the tunnel, the dripping water, my boots sinking into the freezing wet mud, the stale air and the pitch blackness made it a scary experience. |
| pitch blackness made it a scary experience. |
Not sure how you navigated a drain without a flashlight. But, yeah. What AnAppleSnail said. Try another drain and make sure that you bring a flashlight. If it's still scary, then try filming a found-footage ghost movie down there.
Oh wait...
http://www.thetunnelmovie.net
Uh... yeah. Disregard that.
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superphoenix
Location: New York City
Gender: Male
There's a madness to my methods
| | Re: My First: Storm Drain
<Reply # 3 on 1/16/2012 2:28 AM >
| | | | Posted by syl23
Not sure how you navigated a drain without a flashlight.
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I did use a flashlight, and it was a mechanical one, so no need to change the batteries. The darkness came on while I set up the shots and the lights slowly got dimmer (because I wasn't cranking).
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AnAppleSnail
Location: Charlotte, NC
Gender: Male
ALL the flashlights!
| | | | Re: My First: Storm Drain
<Reply # 4 on 1/16/2012 2:59 AM >
| | | | Posted by superphoenix
I did use a flashlight, and it was a mechanical one, so no need to change the batteries. The darkness came on while I set up the shots and the lights slowly got dimmer (because I wasn't cranking).
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Ah. My experience with those crankers is that the crank tends to die when you need it. If you get that first light ($15 at home depot) and a 4-pack & charger ($20 for the right kind) then you'll have good light and won't have to buy batteries for the next 3 years.
Steve Duncan has done some publicity on drain tunnels in NYC, and some people do all sorts of craziness in them (Raft them during rainstorms). That's a bit nuts for me.
Anyway, glad to see you trying storm drains. There's plenty to do around there, and if you don't like 'em, leave em!
Achievement Unlocked
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superphoenix
Location: New York City
Gender: Male
There's a madness to my methods
| | Re: My First: Storm Drain
<Reply # 5 on 1/16/2012 3:08 AM >
| | | | I guess they're a bit like construction sites to me...some of them have little to offer, but every once in a while you will find one worth your time. I recently discovered a drain in my campus, so who knows where that might lead?
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lxk_
Location: AU
go in drains
| | Re: My First: Storm Drain
<Reply # 6 on 1/16/2012 4:02 AM >
| | | | to a river...?
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superphoenix
Location: New York City
Gender: Male
There's a madness to my methods
| | Re: My First: Storm Drain
<Reply # 7 on 1/16/2012 3:31 PM >
| | | | Posted by lxk_
to a river...?
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The outfall was by a body of water. It wasn't much of an outfall actually, just a drain outlet where you have to crouch, so I don't know how safe that is.
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AnAppleSnail
Location: Charlotte, NC
Gender: Male
ALL the flashlights!
| | | | Re: My First: Storm Drain
<Reply # 8 on 1/16/2012 11:53 PM >
| | | | Posted by superphoenix
The outfall was by a body of water. It wasn't much of an outfall actually, just a drain outlet where you have to crouch, so I don't know how safe that is.
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Depends on the weather mainly. The crouching gets old fast. Often you can get a decent idea of where it's headed with map resources. Topographical, sewer/drainage GIS, etc.
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